What a heartwarming story!

(deactivated member)
on 1/6/11 3:59 am - Fair Play, CA

A second chance at a full-filling life. Hope he does well by it.

Alg_ted_williams_youtube-300x223_display_image

He does have a great voice...here it on this video link:
abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/homeless-man-golden-radio-voice -ohio/story

Ted Williams Video: Watch the Man with the Golden Voice on the Today Show

By Jon Gilbert (Contributor) on January 6, 2011

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It's been a whirlwind few days for Ted Williams. Homeless and begging for money on the streets of Columbus, Ohio just days ago, Williams hosted NBC's "Today Show" this morning, thanks to his sensational radio voice providing him with sudden fame.

Williams burst into an Internet phenomenon after an employee of The Columbus Dispatch recorded Williams spouting lines on the streets of Columbus, where he panhandles while holding a sign that told of his "God-given gift of a voice." The result is a viral video with millions of hits and a second chance at life for Williams.

Williams was once an on-air radio host before drug and alcohol addiction tore his life apart. But with his sudden jolt to fame, he has received serious employment interest from the Cleveland Cavaliers, NFL Films and more. The Cavaliers have offered Williams a full-time job and a house to live in despite his long list of arrests—as recent as May 14, 2010 for a misdemeanor theft charge—and an addiction-plagued past.

Williams has been overly grateful for his new opportunities and has expressed invigoration about turning his life around and taking it from the streets. He dreamed of being a radio broadcaster since a school field trip to a radio station in New York City as a teenager. It was a dream that he saw come true for many years, working for radio stations in Columbus. Now, he's using his voice to get a second chance at a life he let slip away.

Ted Williams, homeless man with a golden voice, reunites with mom after being apart 20 years

BY Richard Huff AND James Fanelli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Thursday, January 6th 2011, 2:25 PM

CBS Ted Williams hugged him mom, Julia, for the first time in 20 years on Thursday.

Ted Williams, in a family photo from 1984, with his wife and daughters.

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The Brooklyn-born panhandler with the "golden radio voice" embraced his mother for the first time in 20 years Thursday afternoon - after two network news shows made peace and allowed the reunion to happen.

A tearful Ted Williams hugged his 90-year-old mother, Julia Williams, as NBC's "The Today Show" and CBS' "The Early Show" taped the emotional moment, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

"My prodigal son has finally come home," the overjoyed mother said.

The newspaper reported that Williams told his mom that he had straightened out his life and wouldn't mess up the second chance.

The mother also chided her son about getting her age wrong on national TV. Williams said she was 92 during an "Early Show" interview on Wednesday.

The touching reunion is scheduled to air tomorrow on both morning shows, but until yesterday afternoon there had been a standoff over which network would show it.

Williams, who rose to web stardom after a Columbus Dispatch video went viral, did the lead in for Thursday's "The Today Show" and was later interviewed by Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera.

"It's delightful, just delightful," Williams said of his instant celebrity. "I'm just happy to meet Matt Lauer, see my mom and be back in New York!"

The new star sported an old wardrobe: A green camouflage jacket, green T-shirt and jeans. He sipped from a coffee in one hand and a water bottle in the other.

At the same time, Williams' mother appeared on "The Early Show" to talk about her son.

"I'm so proud," she said. "I want him to do well and I live to see him do well."

"The Early Show," who scored an interview with Williams' on Wednesday, had taken his mother to LaGuardia Airport Wednesday night to see him when he landed. But "The Today Show" whisked Williams away, scuttling a mother-son reunion.

In an unusual move, the networks brokered a deal Thursday to show the reunion at the same time.

Williams' luck turned when a local newspaper video of the one-time radio announcer's striking vocal talent went viral three days ago. It produced a whirlwind of media attention and a pile of voice-over opportunities, including one to work for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In between sifting through job offers on Wednesday, a tearful Williams told CBS' "The Early Show" the best gift of his newfound fame was the chance to visit his mom.

"I apologize. I'm getting a little emotional. I haven't seen my mom in a great deal of time," said Williams.

"One of my biggest prayers that I sent out was that she would live long enough for me to see me rebound or whatever, and I guess God kept her around and kept my pipes around to maybe just have one more shot," he said.